BestPrac.Org

Stop Spam : Best Practice in Email
Spam Prevention and Eradication

Principles of Best Practice -
Associate / Affiliate Program Managers and Affiliate Networks:

Summary

In almost every case, spammers spam in order to make money. This simple fact, combined with the opportunities created by the growth of affiliate programs, means that a very large proportion of spams are unethical forms of email marketing to surreptitiously promote affiliate programs.

While this may be attractive in the short term for affiliate program managers and affiliate networks, the ethical program managers and networks know the damage to their reputation and the flow-on effect to their honest affiliates if their affiliate program gains a reputation as being spam friendly.

Affiliate program managers and networks, therefore, have a very strong moral responsibility, as well as long term self-interest to consider, to ensure that spammers are not encouraged, are actively prohibited and banned, and are quickly stripped of any rewards or benefits of their spam email marketing promotions of affiliate programs.

Affiliate managers and networks, therefore, play a vital role role in spam control. They can stop spam by denying the spammers any reward.
Ref # Principle or Proposed Principle
APM001  Affiliate Program Managers should maintainan an adequately and competently staffed abuse desk on a 365 day per year basis. The contact details for the abuse desk should be readily and easily accessible on the website of the Affiliate Program Manager,and also listed with the Network Abuse Clearinghouse at http://abuse.net
APM002  Evidence-based abuse reports received by the abuse desk of Affilaite Program Managers should be investigated and acted upon, and complainants notified of the outcome of the investigation and the action taken, within twenty four (24) hours of the abuse report being received.
APM003  The Terms of Service of Affiliate Programs should contain strongly worded anti-spamming clauses, which provide for immediate termination without further warning and forfeiture of accrued commissions in the event of violation of the anti-spam clause/s by affiliates or by parties acting on behalf of the affiliates.
APM004  The Affiliate Program Manager and/or related Merchant should maintain on their website, in either their Terms of Service or Privacy Policy (or both) guarantees that the privacy of customers sent to the Program Site by Affiliates, will be fully protected, including assurances that customers will not be contacted by email by the Program/Merchant or associated parties (other than for purposes directly associated with processing and verifying orders and delivery) without their clear, express, prior, optional and voluntary consent - and that such consent may be easily revoked by the customer at any time.
APM005 
APM006 
APM007 
APM008 
APM009 
APM010 
APM011 
APM012 

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